SURREY, B.C. A one-time Hamilton bike gang leader and former pro wrestler is facing a murder charge in connection with gangland slayings in British Columbia’s bloody 2008-2009 gang war.

The RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced seven men linked to the notorious United Nations (UN) gang — including Ion (John) Croitoru, better known by his pro-wrestling tag, Johnny K-9 — have been charged in connection with two murders and an attempted murder.

Croitoru was infamously charged alongside Andre Gravelle in the alleged contract killings of a Hamilton lawyer, Lynn Gilbank, and her husband, Fred Gilbank, who were shot to death in their Ancaster home on Nov. 16, 1998.

The murder charges were withdrawn on the eve of their June 2006 preliminary hearing. The case remains unsolved.

“He’s not getting out here, he’s been in jail a couple of years,” said IHIT spokesperson Corporal Dale Carr.

Croitoru and five co-accused were already in jail facing charges of conspiring to kill rival gang leaders, the Bacon brothers of Abbotsford, and their Red Scorpion associates.

In 2008 and 2009 officials were dealing with a gang war between the Red Scorpions and UN that included more than a dozen killings.

Croitoru is now charged with the first-degree murder of Jonathan Barber and attempted murder of Vicky King.

On May 9, 2008, Barber, 24, was unknowingly driving the Porsche believed to be owned by a gang leader when he was killed in a hail of gunfire. King, then 17, was shot in the car she was driving behind her boyfriend, police said.

On Feb. 6, 2009, Kevin LeClair, 27, who the RCMP says was a high-ranking Red Scorpion, was also murdered in a hail of gunfire in a plaza restaurant.

Valle and purported UN gang leader Conor D’Monte are facing first-degree murder charges in his death. Valle and D’Monte have evaded custody and are the subject of Canadawide warrants.

Hamilton police spokesperson Sergeant Terri-Lynn Collings said she could not specifically say what contact any RCMP officers have had with Hamilton police regarding Croitoru. However, she said it is common for police to share information and for police to keep tabs on people of interest who have moved to other jurisdictions.